You Have Ringing in Your Ears But You Can Still Sleep

Ringing in your ears keeping you awake? You don’t need to just live with it. Here are some tricks for quieting that annoying, persistent sound so you can get some sleep.

Your sleep cycles can be significantly impacted by moderate to severe tinnitus. During the day, you’re distracted by noise and activity so your tinnitus might seem less noticeable. But during the night, when there’s less noise, tinnitus can seem louder and more stressful.

Fortunately, there are a few strategies you can use to fall asleep more easily.

Five tricks for falling asleep when you have tinnitus are shown below.

1. Stop Resisting The Noise

While this might seem overwhelming, paying attention to the noise really makes it worse. If you begin to get aggravated, your blood pressure rises and this makes tinnitus symptoms worse. You will feel worse the more you think about it and your frustration will get worse. You can make the sound fade away a little by thinking about something else and employing the following techniques.

2. Follow a Nighttime Schedule

Condition your body to feel sleepy at the right time by developing healthy sleep habits such as dimming the lights, winding down at least a half an hour before bed, and going to bed at the same time each night. This will make it easier to fall asleep when you’re ready.

Stress has also been associated with tinnitus. Developing habits to lessen your stress level before bed can also be helpful, like:

Reading a book in a quiet room

Doing deep breathing or a quick meditation

Avoiding eating a few hours before going to bed

Listening to soft music or relaxing sounds

Focusing on thoughts that make you happy and calm

At least one hour before bed time, dim the lights

Avoiding drinking alcohol

reduce the temperature in your bedroom

Taking a bath

Stretching or doing yoga

Getting into a predictable schedule before bed helps you shift away from the stresses of the day into night and teaches your body to transition into sleep.

3. Pay Attention to What You Eat

Artificial sweeteners and alcohol are well-known triggers for tinnitus. If you discover, after tracking your diet and symptoms, that certain foods trigger or worsen your tinnitus, make it a habit to steer clear of them. Caffeine is also a trigger so at least avoid having any in the afternoon and evening.